Camp!

While Julia enjoyed Farm Camp a few weeks back, Madeleine had to wait until this week to have her own camp experience.  Today was her first day of Mini-Evergreen Camp, a camp which is run by the town Parks and Recreation department and which Madeleine attended for a week last summer as well.  Because of the fact that she has been to this camp before, Madeleine found herself confused as to how to describe her first camp day of the summer.

It began like this:

JULIA: (annoyed) Mommy?  Madeleine is saying it's her SECOND day of camp, not her FIRST day of camp, and she won't listen to me that it's NOT her second day.  She keeps saying it's her SECOND day because she says she's already been there before.
ME: She probably thinks that because she went to the same camp last summer.  She means it's her second year, not second day.


After having Julia school her on this, Madeleine gave the matter more consideration.  On our walk to camp drop-off this afternoon, Madeleine amended her earlier statement.

MADELEINE: Oh.  Julia.  This is the second WEEK of camp.  By accident I said the second DAY, but it's actually the second WEEK of camp.
JULIA: Well Madeleine, you didn't go to camp last week.
MADELEINE: I know.  But Julia.  It's my second week of camp because...I went to that camp...the last...uh...
ME: You went to the same camp last year.  This is your second YEAR of camp.
MADELEINE: (cheerfully) Oh.  Yeah!  Julia.  It's my second YEAR of camp.

Good thing Madeleine cleared that up for us all.

When we got to the drop-off, Madeleine excitedly greeted a preschool friend who is also signed up for the same camp session.  Julia, apparently worried that the camp counsellors might mistake Madeleine's much taller and much older-looking sibling for a YOUNGER sister, felt the need to loudly exclaim, "Mommy?  I'm not ALLOWED to go to Mini-Evergreen camp, because I'm SEVEN AND HALF.  And I'm going to be in SECOND GRADE." 

Phew.  Good thing she addressed that.  The camp counsellors heard it loud and clear.  Julia is a BIG KID.  She's too OLD FOR THIS MINI-EVERGREEN NONSENSE. 

At any rate, Madeleine thoroughly enjoyed her second first day of camp, and even had enough energy to head over to the pool for a quick free swim before we called it a day.  Lucky for me that we got a chance to do free swim, because I got to play Madeleine's NEWEST version of "Fishy, Fishy Cross My Ocean," called "Crossie, Crossie Cross My Ocean."  I had heretofore sat on the bench watching Ethan play this game with Madeleine, so as you can imagine, I was feeling pretty anxious to take part myself.  I had even mentioned to Ethan how much I enjoyed hearing him play this game with Madeleine yesterday.

ME: I got a kick out of hearing you say, "Crossie, Crossie, Cross My Ocean" to Madeleine.
ETHAN: I particularly liked having to say that within earshot of about a dozen adults.
ME: I bet.

Well, I am left out of the fun no longer.  Today I was fortunate enough to be Crossie, and let me tell you: I totally crossed that ocean.

Independence Day Celebrations

Well, our 4th of July celebrations took place over three days, which has extended our holiday into a veritable long weekend. 

Thursday night were the town fireworks, which the girls absolutely loved. 

Gone are the days of Julia freaking out that the fireworks are going to "sprinkle down on me!", although she still maintained a level of cautious alertness.  We had several conversations like this throughout the display:

JULIA: Wait, Mom, why are there lots of fire trucks here?
ME: Oh, just for extra safety.
JULIA: But what COULD happen to someone?
ME: (trying to down-play things) Oh, I don't know, like if someone setting off the fireworks accidentally got a burn or something.
JULIA: Wait, but what could happen that would burn him?
ME: Well, it's really unlikely that anything would happen.  The people who set off fireworks need to have professional training.
JULIA: But Mom.  Just what COULD happen?

or this:

JULIA: But how do fireworks even make all those colors in the sky?
ETHAN: Different metals.  Copper burns green when it explodes.
JULIA: (on alert) Wait, it EXPLODES?
ETHAN: Yeah.  Fireworks are explosions.
JULIA: (slightly panicked) Wait, so we're watching EXPLOSIONS?  Why does anybody want to watch explosions?

That's a good question Jules.  But every year, millions of Americans - INCLUDING US - gather around to watch them.  Go figure.

The 4th itself was mostly rainy, which caused us to postpone our plans to barbeque, although the rain held off during the morning so that we were able to watch the town parade.

Madeleine's favorite part of the parade was the band of clowns:

Meanwhile, Julia was enamoured with the 18th century costumery, particularly the colonial dresses that a few women wore:

JULIA: Wait, Mommy, do you really think you can BUY dresses like that?  Can I buy one?  Mommy, I reeeeeallly want to get colonial dresses like those ladies are wearing.  They look sooooo pretty! 

Well, I guess it's better that she aspire to look like a colonial woman than like some of the nearly-nude female celebrities of the current day, right?

Madeleine apparently decided to come up with her OWN fashion style today:

TOTALLY fierce.

And speaking of today, we wrapped up our Independence Day celebrations with our bbq dinner, plus, as an added bonus, we got a visit from Nana and Gramps AND from Yiayia and the Aunties.  The girls couldn't have been happier to spend time with so many loved ones.  Nor could they have been happier to shovel down the sweets, as we had sugar cookies, apple pie, ice cream, and strawberry shortcake for dessert, and Julia made sure to sample them all:

 Mmmmm!


Hope all you readers have enjoyed the weekend yourselves!

More Drawings

Oh my Lord.  I don't even have the words to express what went through my head when I saw Madeleine's newest set of drawings.  Luckily, I can share Madeleine's own words, as she explained her pictures to me.

ME: Madeleine, what did you draw here?
MADELEINE: A big sister and a little brother.  They just played baseball. 
ME: I like the girl's bow.
MADELEINE: Isn't it pretty?  Her hair is supposed to be yellowish brownish orangish reddish.

ME: And what's this?
MADELEINE: Oh, um.  That's, um...a chickie.  That's a DUCK.
ME: And what is this thing? (pointing to the top most object with the heart drawn on it.)
MADELEINE: That's the little check-list that says "GOOD JOB!"
ME: Good job to the duck?
MADELEINE: Uh, good job to the person who makes it BE a duck.

ME: Okay.  What's this?
MADELEINE: Um...word search, and that says "Shake to Paint!"
ME: So the word search is down below, and it says "Shake to Paint" up top?
MADELEINE: Yes.
ME: And whose hands are holding the "Shake to Paint" sign?
MADELEINE: Nobody's!
ME: Oh.

ME: Okay, and who are these people?
MADELEINE: (pointing to the girl on the right) Um, that's a girl that just WON baseball, (pointing to the girl on the left) and that's a girl that you have to try to fill in, too.


Well, I don't know about you, but her explanations just about cleared everything up for me.

Madeleine Draws, Again

Today, Madeleine took her newfound interest in drawing household objects to Julia's bedroom.  Among the items in Julia's room that Madeleine selected to draw were:

Julia's stuffed lamb.  Madeleine did a pretty accurate job with the head, ears, and face.  I'm not so sure about the legs.  In fact, I can't really tell if all of the vertical blobs are legs or if the one furthest to the rear is a big flying-squirrel tail.  But on the whole, a respectable representation of Lamby, wouldn't you say?:

Madeleine also decided to draw:

Now, contrary to what it may look like, this is not a picture of apocalyptic zombies resurrected from the grave, but is instead Julia's collection of dolls.  And I'm not talking the kind of antique creepy dolls that will give one nightmares, but instead Julia's assortment of prim and proper American Girl dolls that she keeps on her wall shelves.  See?  Now that you compare the picture with the real image, you'll see how spot-on Madeleine was:

I mean, do these dolls not have huge hollow lifeless eyes and bared fangs, or what?  The dolls on the lower shelf especially share the same aggressively stalking-for-prey appearance that the girls in Madeleine's drawings do.

And on a completely different note, Madeleine has now matched her sister in the department of accidentally losing her bathing suit bottoms and mooning the entire pool population.  I think we may have to stick to one-piece bathing suits from now on!

More Pool Games

Today's Free Swim fun included yet another million games of "Marco Polo," many of which were between Madeleine and myself.  Since Julia was off in the deep end jumping off the diving board, Madeleine was stuck with me as her sole play-mate.

There are a number of reasons why playing "Marco Polo" with Madeleine in the shallow end is kind of lackluster.

#1: Not only is she a big fat cheater about closing her eyes when she's "Marco," but whenever *I'm* "Marco," she only bothers to answer "Polo!" about 10% of the time.  Therefore, when I don't hear her response, I'm forced to be a cheater myself and open my own eyes, because a lack of reply from my daughter PROBABLY means she's too busy swimming away to answer, but COULD ALSO potentially mean she's off drowning somewhere and I can't see her.

#2: Because we are in the shallow end, we're surrounded by other little kids, most of whom are smaller/younger than Madeleine.  And because she is lacking in the grace department, even when her eyes are opened she often winds up crashing into some poor little 2-year-old wading around.


#3: Even though she won't answer "Polo!" most of the time, Madeleine still insists that I say it regularly.  Here's a summary of how the game usually goes for us:

ME: Marco!
MADELEINE: Polo!
ME: Marco!
MADELEINE: (silence)
ME: Marco!
MADELEINE: (silence)
ME: Marco!
MADELEINE: (silence)
ME: (silence)
MADELEINE: Mom!  SAY it!
ME: Marco!

And on and on.


#4: Since there are only two of us, the game is really not all that exciting.  Either I get her or she gets me.  Every time.


It was with some relief, therefore, that I greeted Madeleine's idea to try playing a new game after over an hour of "Marco Polo." 

MADELEINE: Hey Mama!  Wanna play "Sharkie Sharkie Cross My Ocean?"
ME: Sure.  But how do you play?
MADELEINE: Okay.  So.  I'll be the Dolphin-Fish-MERMAID, and...you can be the Shark-Bunny.

The Shark-Bunny?  Lucky me!  I have the opportunity to be both a fierce predator and a docile little cottontail wrapped up in one!

The game, as I suspected, was more or less "Fishy, Fishy, Cross My Ocean," in which the person in the middle of the pool lane (that person being the Dolphin-Fish-Mermaid in this case) shouts out "Sharkie, Sharkie, Cross My Ocean!" and the Shark-Bunny then tries to get from one end of the pool lane to the other without being tagged.

What happens if you DO get tagged is somewhat different from in the "Fishy, Fishy" version, however.  In the "Fishy" version, once a fish is tagged, he/she becomes the new Shark. 

Here's how Madeleine's version worked:

MADELEINE: Okay. Mama. So, when I tag you, you become a PLANT.  You can still move your ARMS, but you can't move your legs.  THEN you have to WAIT until I accidentally tag you AGAIN, and then YOU become the Dolphin-Fish-Mermaid.

So I became a plant, and waited for Madeleine to deliberately accidentally swim over to me and touch me, upon which I became the Dolphin-Fish-Mermaid and she the Shark-Bunny.

Needless to say, between our high-stakes game of "Marco Polo" and the suspense-filled "Sharkie, Sharkie, Cross My Ocean," I'm not thoroughly wiped.  ACTION-PACKED TIMES at the town pool!

The Things They Say and Do...

The various ways in which my children have proven their genius to me today:


#1: This morning, the phone began ringing while I was in the shower.  Madeleine helpfully climbed up on top of the piano to grab the phone and run it in to me.  Literally INTO THE SHOWER.  All of a sudden I saw this little hand, holding a cordless phone, reaching in around the shower curtain and into the midst of my shower.



#2: The kids learned how to play "Marco Polo" at the pool during Free Swim this afternoon.  Madeleine played every turn as "Marco" with her eyes open.  (And even so, she had a hard time actually catching anybody.)



#3: Julia was so desperate to escape from the current "Marco" that she scrambled up the ladder to the diving board dock, losing the seat of her tankini in the process.  She decided to pull it back up from around her thighs AFTER she had fully climbed the ladder, mooning the rest of the pool-goers, and had set both feet safely on the dock.  Let's face it.  Showing a little bare bottom is worth it if it means you get yourself safely out of the clutches of "Marco."



#4: This conversation with Julia:

ME: I just love summer.
JULIA: Me too!  Summer and fall are my two favorite seasons!
ME: Mine too.
JULIA: Wait!  Mom!  That's ANOTHER thing that I must have gotten from your genes.  I have the same two favorite SEASONS as you!



#5: This conversation with Madeleine, after her expected peeing on the potty turned into an unexpected diarrhea squirt:

ME: Okay, here you go honey, touch your toes and I'll wipe you.
MADELEINE: (leaning forward and whacking her head on the corner of the vanity) OW! (sobbing)
ME: Oh, honey!  Are you okay?? (attempting to both kiss her head and wipe her runny butt at the same time.)
MADELEINE: (sobbing angrily) Mama.  I want to THROW THIS BATHROOM COUNTER AWAY.
ME: We're going to, honey.
MADELEINE: I just want to THROW it AWAY and get a NEW one!
ME: We're going to.
MADELEINE: (eyeing me suspiciously, still crying) Wait.  Mama.  Did you ARDERY decide that?
ME: Yes.
MADELEINE: Before I hit my head did you ARDERY decide you were gonna do that?
ME: Yes, we did.
MADELEINE: (upon hearing that I wasn't disposing of the vanity solely because it offended her, sobbing afresh.)


What can I say, folks?  My kids are gonna be rocket scientists.

Family Picture

Madeleine drew a picture of various people in our family going to sleep at night:

On the far right lay Julia and Madeleine with eyes closed, sleeping peacefully, with Clara the dog at their feet.  A faceless Auntie Shannon lies below Clara.  On the floor in the center are Mommy, First Daddy, Second Daddy, and then we've got regular old Daddy standing on his head at the left.  Above Mommy is faceless Auntie Caitlyn.

I'm not sure why Madeleine decided not to give her aunties faces, but Auntie Caitlyn decided to retaliate and drew a picture of our family members, including a faceless Madeleine.

The joke didn't go over so well with Madeleine, however.  She got mad and broke her crayon.

The crayon-breaking clearly was not enough to satisfy Madeleine's anger, so she decided to REALLY get even.

Take THAT Auntie Caitlyn!  Stuck with a frowny face forever immortalized on this page.  Now THAT is revenge.